Help translating into proper kanji

[charkol11]

So, I took Japanese in high school and I would like to start brushing up on it soon. Any suggestions on a way to learn/reteach myself?

But the reason for this post is to ask for some help translating something into proper kanji. I am thinking about possibly getting a tattoo of the Jedi symbol and I would like to put "Peace over anger. Honor over hate. Strength over fear." around the tattoo in Japanese. I was hoping someone could translate those for me. I just think it would look cooler in kanji rather than English.

Thanks for any help!

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by charkol11

So, I took Japanese in high school and I would like to start brushing up on it soon. Any suggestions on a way to learn/reteach myself?

But the reason for this post is to ask for some help translating something into proper kanji. I am thinking about possibly getting a tattoo of the Jedi symbol and I would like to put "Peace over anger. Honor over hate. Strength over fear." around the tattoo in Japanese. I was hoping someone could translate those for me. I just think it would look cooler in kanji rather than English.

Thanks for any help!

Perhaps you should get the tattoo in Aurebesh instead of Japanese?

[charkol11]

I thought about that, but I don't want like a story down my arm. That's why I thought kanji would look better.

[steven]

I can't really offer anything as far as your tattoo goes... but as far as "relearning" what you learned in high school... I'll say this: unless you went to high school in Japan, I wouldn't bother "relearning" anything. I'd suggest getting a grammar book (such as A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar) and scan through it occasionally. When not doing that, immerse yourself. Watch TV shows, movies, whatever. I think listening to music isn't quite as useful as people say, but if it is something that will hold your interest, then maybe do that as well as watch TV stuff about the music.

If you have a musical background then I think you have a head start. If you don't, I'd suggest doing some basic ear training. In other words, listen and absorb (that is to say, use all your senses) when learning Japanese. It is something that takes a long time, just like any language (including everyone's native language).

I'm with the camp that says the less intrusion from your mother language the better, so try to just shut off your brain and turn on your senses when listening to / watching Japanese. (Subtitles get in the way of this, but it might be useful to understand something at first, giving you the drive to continue). Repetition helps-- try to almost impersonate what you hear. That is how you will work on your ear.

It'll take about 3 years for someone to be able to hold small short conversations in their mother tongue, so expect it to take longer for a second language.

[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by charkol11

I thought about that, but I don't want like a story down my arm. That's why I thought kanji would look better.

And you think Japanese would be just a couple kanji? You're asking for a long phrase: it's going to go down your whole arm in any language!